Friday, 19 October 2012

Michael John Proctor

No man made more impact on the Rhodesian cricket scene than Springbok all-rounder Michael John Procter, who was contracted to play for the country in a world 'scoop' achieved by the Rhodesia Cricket Union in May 1970.

The acquisition of Procter, then not only one of the world's quickest fast bowlers but also a batsman of the highest order, came at a crucial time for Rhodesian cricket.

In the 1969-70 South African season, Rhodesia had fared poorly, finishing last in the Currie Cup table and as a result the team had been relegated to the B Section of the competition for the following season.

Procter burst into the Rhodesian cricket scene like an express train out of a tunnel. Few cricket followers will forget the sight of the well-built blond Springbok turning from his mark near the boundary boards . . . the awesome run-up . . . the open-chested delivery stride . . . the roared appeal with arms open wide, reaching for the sky.

His debut season for Rhodesia was, to say the least spectacular. While Procter the bowler was effective, Procter the batsman was magnificent and he amassed 956 runs — the highest total of the 1970-71 South African season — at an average of 119,50.

But more important Procter equalled the world record of six successive centuries in first class matches. This feat had been achieved only twice before, by cricketing greats C. B. Fry in 1901 and Sir Donald Bradman in 1938-39.

The runs that flowed from Procters bat that season sparked a tremendous revival of interest in the game in Rhodesia. The country's demotion to B Section had come as a great blow, and attendances at home matches would probably have dropped had not Procter come onto the scene.

The spotlight focused sharply on Procter and Rhodesian cricket when, after his fourth successive hundred, the national Press drew attention to the fact that a world record was within reach.

Procter began his record-equalling run of innings with a sharp 119 against Natal B at Bulawayo. At the Police Ground, Salisbury, he took 129 off Transvaal B and followed this with 107 against Free State at Bloemfontein, 174 off North Eastern Transvaal in Pretoria and 106 in Rhodesia's final Currie Cup fixture against Griqualand West at Kimberley.

Fortunately Rhodesia had one remaining fixture that season — a friendly against Western Province at Salisbury and the South African Cricket Association confirmed that the match had first-class status.

So Procter had his chance and the scene was set for a thrilling finish to a successful season at Salisbury's Police Ground, where crowds flocked to see for themselves if 'Mighty Mike' could do it once more and write his name into the record books.

Thousands of hearts missed a beat when Procter, after coming to the wicket with Rhodesia poorly placed, having lost three wickets with only five runs on the board, snicked a catch to slips early in his innings.

The catch went to the Western Province captain, Andre Bruyns, who after juggling the ball three times, finally dropped it — much to the relief not only of Procter, but his many supporters in the stands.

This close shave did not deter him, and with Stuart Robertson batting well at the other end, Rhodesia got on top of the bowling and shortly after two o'clock that afternoon the great moment came. Procter hit Mike Bowditch for three to reach his sixth successive century and then proceeded to tear the attack apart. He finished with 254 and Rhodesia beat Province by seven wickets. It was Procter's highest first-class score.

Rhodesia were duly promoted back into the A Section of Currie Cup for the 1971-72 season, when Procter took over the captaincy from Ray Gripper in the third match against Transvaal at the Wanderers.

Obviously relishing his new post, Procter was in magnificent form and, bowling at full pace, he was largely responsible for Transvaal crashing to 31-7. At one stage his analysis read: 6-0-7-5 and he finished with 16-2-32-7 as Rhodesia inflicted the first provincial defeat on Transvaal since 1963, when Ali Bacher had taken over as captain.

Procter led the team for the remaining four matches that season, and of the five games, Rhodesia won four and drew one. They beat Western Province by seven wickets, Transvaal by nine wickets. Natal by 22 runs and Northern Transvaal by 176 runs

Other bowling figures returned by Procter included 21-11-25-3 against Eastern Province and 26,2-5-70-5 and 10,5-4-9-5 against Western Province. He finished the season with 52 wickets from eight matches and Rhodesia were placed second in the Currie Cup competition by two points to Transvaal. Ironically the Rhodesians had won more matches than any other side in the competition but with a better aggregate of batting bonus points, Transvaal squeaked home.

It was a fine performance from a team which in the previous season had been in the B Section. Much of the credit was due to Procter who led by example and, aided by his pleasant extrovert personality and enthusiasm, motivated the remainder of the team to greater achievements.

Procter had instilled confidence in a team which often lacked faith in its abilit against the top South African provinces, but the following 1972-73 season saw Rhodesia deprived — by a South African Cricket Association boardroom decision — of winning the Currie Cup for the first time.

At the start of the season Procter had been adamant that the Currie Cup would cross the Limpopo. His prediction was given more weight when Rhodesia beat the champions, Transvaal, by 113 runs in the opening match at the Queens Ground at Bulawayo.

It was an unusual match, with Procter coming to the fore in the later stages by scoring 65 in the Rhodesian second innings, by the end of which Transvaal needed 311 from their second innings to win.

Procter quickly removed one of the Transvaal batsmen in his opening overs of pace, but with Ali Bacher and Brian Bath playing well, the tide began to turn in Transvaal's favour. Procter was not to be outdone, however, and switching to off- spinners he captured eight of the remaining Transvaal wickets to finish with his career's best figures 36,1-17-71-9.

Such was the versatility of this great player, who for several years was rated as the best all-rounder in the world.

The next match Rhodesia drew against Natal at Salisbury, and then came the game that was to cause controversy, not only in Southern Africa but everywhere the game is played, because the decision of the umpires was reversed.

Eastern Province, led by Lorrie Wilmot were the opponents at the Bulawayo Queens Ground over 18,19 and 20 November. It was one of the most absorbing contests in the history of Currie Cup as Easterns totalled 301, and Rhodesia, saved by a late stand between Robin Jackman and Paddy Clift, replied with 261.

A second innings of 283-9 enabled Wilmot to set Rhodesia a testing target of 324 for victory in 240 minutes and the compulsory 20 overs in the last hour. Typically, Procter decided Rhodesia would go for runs — they had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

The top order batsmen rose to the occasion with Jimmy Mitchell, Stuart Robertson, Peter Carlstein and Howie Gardiner playing innings that kept Rhodesia in the hunt and up with the clock.

With Procter in great form and six runs required for victory with an over left for play. Wilmot led his team off the field. After calling play three times the umpires awarded Rhodesia the match and the 10 points for an outright victory. Those vital points were subsequently taken away when the SACA overruled the umpires' decision so that Rhodesia finished fourth in the Currie Cup competition with 79 points. Transvaal won with 84 points. The 10 points from the Eastern's match would have given Rhodesia the Cup by a clear five points.

Procter was very upset by the incident and more so by the SACA decision to reverse the umpires' ruling. The confusion arose over the exact start of the final 20 overs, due to begin after tea at 4.45 p.m. But the umpires wpre in position a minute before then and according to the rules, the last over before the interval had then to be bowled. One of the umpires indicated this by raising a finger which the other misinterpreted to mean the first of the 20 compulsory overs.

During the drinks interval, the umpires held a short discussion and the Press and scorers were told that the first of the 20 overs was to begin after tea. Procter and Wilmot were then told of the decision, and Wilmot maintained that the umpires could not change their minds as he had been informed that the over before tea was the first

At the end of the 19th over after tea, Wilmot led his side off the field with Rhodesia a frustrating six runs away from a thrilling victory and Procter, who had the strike, was in rampant form with 66 not out It was an unsatisfactory end to a thrilling day's play, and it later cost Rhodesia dearly.

The walk-off apart it was another great season for Procter, who hit two magnificent centuries off the touring International Wanderers team. Surrey professional Robin Jackman teamed up with Procter to provide Rhodesia with a fearsome opening attack and between them they accounted for 100 wickets in eleven matches. Procter took 60 first-class wickets at a cost of 17,48 runs apiece and scored 870 runs at an average of 48,33 to make another outstanding contribution to Rhodesian cricket.

The following season, 1973-74, Procter again captained Rhodesia in eight Currie Cup matches and one friendly. Perhaps their run had been too good to last and Rhodesia finished the season without a single Currie Cup victory, losing three and drawing five matches. Rhodesia's batsmen were the main culprits as once again the bowlers did very well. That season they did not concede a single century to any other province. Some of Procter's better figures included: 17,4-4-42-4 against Natal, and 16-7-19-3 and 18,1-6-43-4 against Western Province.

A knee injury prevented Procter from playing any real part in Rhodesia's Currie Cup bid in 1974-75. He played — in constant pain — in only one match, against Western Province at Newlands, scoring 64 runs in a partnership of 125 with Keith Tattersall. The injury was severe and seriously threatened his career as a fast bowler.

The knee had troubled him once before, but an operation at Bristol put him on the road to recovery. Some sceptics doubted whether he would be able to bowl at his previous pace,but Procter, with typical determination, later proved them to be wrong.

He did not bowl much for Rhodesia in 1975-76, taking only 10 wickets in the entire season but he produced some good performances with the bat including 121 n.o. and 77 against Eastern Province at Port Elizabeth. That century helped to break a Rhodesian record for a third-wicket partnership which had stood for 23 years. Procter and Stuart Robertson scored 226 runs in 229 minutes, beating the old mark of 211.

It was his last contribution to the Rhodesia cricket record books as in March 1976 he told the Rhodesia Cricket Union he would not be returning the following season to take up a further contract

Rhodesia Cricket Union vice-president Alwyn Pichanick, said at the time: "The contribution which Mike Procter has made to Rhodesian cricket speaks for itself.

"He was responsible for injecting completely new thinking into the game and he gave the other players confidence in themselves.

"From my relationship with him as manager of the Rhodesian team when he was captain, I know we could never have asked for a player who gave more for Rhodesia. He always gave everything and he's going to be a terrible loss."

Procter went back to Gloucestershire for his tenth season in the English County championship and after that returned to South Africa for the 1976-77 Currie Cup season. He played for Natal — his original home province — and during the season became the most prolific wicket-taker in Currie Cup history, beating Jack Waddington's record of 317.

The complete professional, Procter performed at such a consistently high level for Gloucestershire that the county was commonly referred to as 'Proctershire'.

His overall efforts for Rhodesia were equally spectacular. In five seasons Procter played 46 matches and his respective batting and bowling achievements were:No man made more impact on the Rhodesian cricket scene than Springbok all-rounder Michael John Procter, who was contracted to play for the country in a world 'scoop' achieved by the Rhodesia Cricket Union in May 1970.

The acquisition of Procter, then not only one of the world's quickest fast bowlers but also a batsman of the highest order, came at a crucial time for Rhodesian cricket.

In the 1969-70 South African season, Rhodesia had fared poorly, finishing last in the Currie Cup table and as a result the team had been relegated to the B Section of the competition for the following season.

Procter burst into the Rhodesian cricket scene like an express train out of a tunnel. Few cricket followers will forget the sight of the well-built blond Springbok turning from his mark near the boundary boards . . . the awesome run-up . . . the open-chested delivery stride . . . the roared appeal with arms open wide, reaching for the sky.

His debut season for Rhodesia was, to say the least spectacular. While Procter the bowler was effective, Procter the batsman was magnificent and he amassed 956 runs — the highest total of the 1970-71 South African season — at an average of 119,50.

But more important Procter equalled the world record of six successive centuries in first class matches. This feat had been achieved only twice before, by cricketing greats C. B. Fry in 1901 and Sir Donald Bradman in 1938-39.

The runs that flowed from Procters bat that season sparked a tremendous revival of interest in the game in Rhodesia. The country's demotion to B Section had come as a great blow, and attendances at home matches would probably have dropped had not Procter come onto the scene.

The spotlight focused sharply on Procter and Rhodesian cricket when, after his fourth successive hundred, the national Press drew attention to the fact that a world record was within reach.

Procter began his record-equalling run of innings with a sharp 119 against Natal B at Bulawayo. At the Police Ground, Salisbury, he took 129 off Transvaal B and followed this with 107 against Free State at Bloemfontein, 174 off North Eastern Transvaal in Pretoria and 106 in Rhodesia's final Currie Cup fixture against Griqualand West at Kimberley.

Fortunately Rhodesia had one remaining fixture that season — a friendly against Western Province at Salisbury and the South African Cricket Association confirmed that the match had first-class status.

So Procter had his chance and the scene was set for a thrilling finish to a successful season at Salisbury's Police Ground, where crowds flocked to see for themselves if 'Mighty Mike' could do it once more and write his name into the record books.

Thousands of hearts missed a beat when Procter, after coming to the wicket with Rhodesia poorly placed, having lost three wickets with only five runs on the board, snicked a catch to slips early in his innings.

The catch went to the Western Province captain, Andre Bruyns, who after juggling the ball three times, finally dropped it — much to the relief not only of Procter, but his many supporters in the stands.

This close shave did not deter him, and with Stuart Robertson batting well at the other end, Rhodesia got on top of the bowling and shortly after two o'clock that afternoon the great moment came. Procter hit Mike Bowditch for three to reach his sixth successive century and then proceeded to tear the attack apart. He finished with 254 and Rhodesia beat Province by seven wickets. It was Procter's highest first-class score.

Rhodesia were duly promoted back into the A Section of Currie Cup for the 1971-72 season, when Procter took over the captaincy from Ray Gripper in the third match against Transvaal at the Wanderers.

Obviously relishing his new post, Procter was in magnificent form and, bowling at full pace, he was largely responsible for Transvaal crashing to 31-7. At one stage his analysis read: 6-0-7-5 and he finished with 16-2-32-7 as Rhodesia inflicted the first provincial defeat on Transvaal since 1963, when Ali Bacher had taken over as captain.

Procter led the team for the remaining four matches that season, and of the five games, Rhodesia won four and drew one. They beat Western Province by seven wickets, Transvaal by nine wickets. Natal by 22 runs and Northern Transvaal by 176 runs

Other bowling figures returned by Procter included 21-11-25-3 against Eastern Province and 26,2-5-70-5 and 10,5-4-9-5 against Western Province. He finished the season with 52 wickets from eight matches and Rhodesia were placed second in the Currie Cup competition by two points to Transvaal. Ironically the Rhodesians had won more matches than any other side in the competition but with a better aggregate of batting bonus points, Transvaal squeaked home.

It was a fine performance from a team which in the previous season had been in the B Section. Much of the credit was due to Procter who led by example and, aided by his pleasant extrovert personality and enthusiasm, motivated the remainder of the team to greater achievements.

Procter had instilled confidence in a team which often lacked faith in its abilit against the top South African provinces, but the following 1972-73 season saw Rhodesia deprived — by a South African Cricket Association boardroom decision — of winning the Currie Cup for the first time.

At the start of the season Procter had been adamant that the Currie Cup would cross the Limpopo. His prediction was given more weight when Rhodesia beat the champions, Transvaal, by 113 runs in the opening match at the Queens Ground at Bulawayo.

It was an unusual match, with Procter coming to the fore in the later stages by scoring 65 in the Rhodesian second innings, by the end of which Transvaal needed 311 from their second innings to win.

Procter quickly removed one of the Transvaal batsmen in his opening overs of pace, but with Ali Bacher and Brian Bath playing well, the tide began to turn in Transvaal's favour. Procter was not to be outdone, however, and switching to off- spinners he captured eight of the remaining Transvaal wickets to finish with his career's best figures 36,1-17-71-9.

Such was the versatility of this great player, who for several years was rated as the best all-rounder in the world.

The next match Rhodesia drew against Natal at Salisbury, and then came the game that was to cause controversy, not only in Southern Africa but everywhere the game is played, because the decision of the umpires was reversed.

Eastern Province, led by Lorrie Wilmot were the opponents at the Bulawayo Queens Ground over 18,19 and 20 November. It was one of the most absorbing contests in the history of Currie Cup as Easterns totalled 301, and Rhodesia, saved by a late stand between Robin Jackman and Paddy Clift, replied with 261.

A second innings of 283-9 enabled Wilmot to set Rhodesia a testing target of 324 for victory in 240 minutes and the compulsory 20 overs in the last hour. Typically, Procter decided Rhodesia would go for runs — they had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

The top order batsmen rose to the occasion with Jimmy Mitchell, Stuart Robertson, Peter Carlstein and Howie Gardiner playing innings that kept Rhodesia in the hunt and up with the clock.

With Procter in great form and six runs required for victory with an over left for play. Wilmot led his team off the field. After calling play three times the umpires awarded Rhodesia the match and the 10 points for an outright victory. Those vital points were subsequently taken away when the SACA overruled the umpires' decision so that Rhodesia finished fourth in the Currie Cup competition with 79 points. Transvaal won with 84 points. The 10 points from the Eastern's match would have given Rhodesia the Cup by a clear five points.

Procter was very upset by the incident and more so by the SACA decision to reverse the umpires' ruling. The confusion arose over the exact start of the final 20 overs, due to begin after tea at 4.45 p.m. But the umpires wpre in position a minute before then and according to the rules, the last over before the interval had then to be bowled. One of the umpires indicated this by raising a finger which the other misinterpreted to mean the first of the 20 compulsory overs.

During the drinks interval, the umpires held a short discussion and the Press and scorers were told that the first of the 20 overs was to begin after tea. Procter and Wilmot were then told of the decision, and Wilmot maintained that the umpires could not change their minds as he had been informed that the over before tea was the first

At the end of the 19th over after tea, Wilmot led his side off the field with Rhodesia a frustrating six runs away from a thrilling victory and Procter, who had the strike, was in rampant form with 66 not out It was an unsatisfactory end to a thrilling day's play, and it later cost Rhodesia dearly.

The walk-off apart it was another great season for Procter, who hit two magnificent centuries off the touring International Wanderers team. Surrey professional Robin Jackman teamed up with Procter to provide Rhodesia with a fearsome opening attack and between them they accounted for 100 wickets in eleven matches. Procter took 60 first-class wickets at a cost of 17,48 runs apiece and scored 870 runs at an average of 48,33 to make another outstanding contribution to Rhodesian cricket.

The following season, 1973-74, Procter again captained Rhodesia in eight Currie Cup matches and one friendly. Perhaps their run had been too good to last and Rhodesia finished the season without a single Currie Cup victory, losing three and drawing five matches. Rhodesia's batsmen were the main culprits as once again the bowlers did very well. That season they did not concede a single century to any other province. Some of Procter's better figures included: 17,4-4-42-4 against Natal, and 16-7-19-3 and 18,1-6-43-4 against Western Province.

A knee injury prevented Procter from playing any real part in Rhodesia's Currie Cup bid in 1974-75. He played — in constant pain — in only one match, against Western Province at Newlands, scoring 64 runs in a partnership of 125 with Keith Tattersall. The injury was severe and seriously threatened his career as a fast bowler.

The knee had troubled him once before, but an operation at Bristol put him on the road to recovery. Some sceptics doubted whether he would be able to bowl at his previous pace,but Procter, with typical determination, later proved them to be wrong.

He did not bowl much for Rhodesia in 1975-76, taking only 10 wickets in the entire season but he produced some good performances with the bat including 121 n.o. and 77 against Eastern Province at Port Elizabeth. That century helped to break a Rhodesian record for a third-wicket partnership which had stood for 23 years. Procter and Stuart Robertson scored 226 runs in 229 minutes, beating the old mark of 211.

It was his last contribution to the Rhodesia cricket record books as in March 1976 he told the Rhodesia Cricket Union he would not be returning the following season to take up a further contract

Rhodesia Cricket Union vice-president Alwyn Pichanick, said at the time: "The contribution which Mike Procter has made to Rhodesian cricket speaks for itself.

"He was responsible for injecting completely new thinking into the game and he gave the other players confidence in themselves.

"From my relationship with him as manager of the Rhodesian team when he was captain, I know we could never have asked for a player who gave more for Rhodesia. He always gave everything and he's going to be a terrible loss."

Procter went back to Gloucestershire for his tenth season in the English County championship and after that returned to South Africa for the 1976-77 Currie Cup season. He played for Natal — his original home province — and during the season became the most prolific wicket-taker in Currie Cup history, beating Jack Waddington's record of 317.

The complete professional, Procter performed at such a consistently high level for Gloucestershire that the county was commonly referred to as 'Proctershire'.

His overall efforts for Rhodesia were equally spectacular. In five seasons Procter played 46 matches and his respective batting and bowling achievements were:

For Rhodesia, Procter scored 11 centuries, 17 half-centuries and took 52 catches. He took five wickets in an innings eight times and 10 wickets in a match three times. His total of 186 wickets is beaten by Joe Partridge, Percy Mansell, Goofy Lawrence and Jack du Preez but on average they played three times as many seasons as Procter. As a short-term contribution, Procter's achievements
were outstanding.

Procter was twice named as Rhodesia's Sportsman of the Year, in 1971 and 1972, and he was a serious contender in 1973 as well.

It was unfortunate that Procter's Test career was curtailed by South Africa's political problems, but he did play for the Springboks against two Australian sides in 1966-67 and 1969-70. His Test debut was against Bob Simpson's side in the third match of the series and Procter finished with match figures of 7-98. Although his efforts with the bat were not spectacular he impressed as a bowler and picked up six wickets in the fourth Test.

Against Bill Lawry's side two seasons later, Procter averaged over 30 with the bat and took 26 wickets in the four-Test series with best Test career bowling figures of 6-73. Playing for Western Province against the Australians, Procter slammed 155 in 130 minutes with nine sixes, including five from successive balls in one over from Ashley Mallett. He went from 100 to 150 in only twelve minutes.

— McDERMOTT.

End

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